The Economic Power He Knows Not: Year Two
by kgfinkel
Summary: Harry is back for another year at Hogwarts. This year he discovers that his parents did indeed have a will, a godfather wrongly imprisoned and more meddling from a irritating headmaster. He and his friends will have to deal with an incompetent Defense teacher and the mystery of the legendary Chamber of Secrets.
1. Chapter 1

**The Economic Power He Knows Not: Year Two**

( **AN:** I've had a couple of people mention in my last story that Harry was acting like a Malfoy. He's 11, that's how they are! Another person wrote that Harry's attitude towards McGonagall regarding being given all information would be better if he were 15 instead of 11. I don't know about you but 11 year olds are pretty annoying and demanding when it comes to information. Besides, I wonder how many of you all read the first two lines of my AN before the story started. **THIS IS THE BEAUTY OF FAN FICTION. WE MAKE IT UP AS WE GO ALONG!** I also have decided that Harry's scar will NOT be a Horcrux! For me, it's just a bad usage of a plot device.)

 **Saturday 27 June, 1992 Dursley Residence**

Harry awoke bright and early eager to begin the new day. Today was the day that he wanted to demonstrate some of the things he had learned at Hogwarts to his relatives. He knew that he wouldn't be able to show them the wand-required magic but there were other subjects that should be okay. He also wanted to give his aunt the vase he had made with the Light Reactive Color Changing glaze.

After finishing his morning routine, he bounded downstairs in a barely contained semblance of energy. Entering the kitchen, he found his uncle already up and drinking his morning cup of coffee while reading the paper. Aunt Petunia was busy puttering around in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Harry," Vernon said, "I've already read the financial section if you want to go through it. Gold prices are down a bit but nothing to worry about, in my opinion."

Harry thanked his uncle and picked up the discarded section. He sat down, poured himself a cup of coffee as well and began to read. He noted that the gold prices were indeed a bit lower and began to take a look at what was available in terms of stocks and bonds. He began making a list to investigate later.

After breakfast, Harry found his aunt and uncle in the living room and asked them if they would like to see some of the things he had learned over the course of the last school year. He cautioned them that he wouldn't be able to use his wand but there were other classes that shouldn't trip any alarms. His uncle asked about that and Harry explained that his head of house informed them that the magical ministry had a network in place to determine if magic was used or performed around the non-magical community. He commented that if a student were to be caught they could be censored or fined depending on the severity of the misdeed.

Petunia was hesitant as she remembered her hope and curiosity that turned into envy and jealousy when her sister went to that school and had then come home every holiday and continued to demonstrate the differences that would always separate them. Vernon, on the other hand, was a bit curious. He had learned that Harry didn't display what he would call " _the usual freakishness._ " The lights, smoke and bangs he normally associated with wizards just didn't apply to the boy as Harry seemed more of the down-to-earth, quiet sort who just went about his business and got the job done.

* * *

Harry went racing back upstairs to his room and dragged his trunk back down to the living room. He opened it up and pulled out a large box then placed it at his aunt's feet.

"I-I made this for you Aunt Petunia." He stammered nervously, lightly biting his lip, "I hope you like it."

Petunia opened the box and gasped in surprise. She reached in and pulled out a beautiful vase sculpted in a style reminiscent of the later Greek period. It stood about 14 inches tall and at about 9 inches at its widest diameter. It had 3 tiny feet shaped like elephants holding the vase on their backs. The moment the box was opened the change in light set off the potion glaze and the surface began swirling and pulsing in a slow, almost sensuous dance of colors. Petunia put the vase up on the coffee table so she and Vernon could watch mesmerized by the activity. She tore her gaze away from the vase and looked at her nephew.

"Thank you, Harry," she said, "It's gorgeous. H-How did you do it? The changing colors I mean…"

"There's a potion recipe in an advanced textbook I found in the school's library that I made into a glaze and painted onto the vase. It will continue to shift colors and patterns as the glaze reacts to the shifting light and shadows in whatever room it is in."

Needless to say, the two adults were totally amazed and impressed by the gift and its abilities. Harry turned to his uncle and asked him if he would like to use a similar potion that would give him the ability to have two different hair and skin colors based on whether or not he was indoors or out.

"Eh…I don't think so, Harry," Vernon began, "I don't want to walk around in public looking like that vase."

Harry smiled, "I can change the potion so that there are only two different colors. Imagine going outside and having the blonde hair and sun-kissed tan skin that most people would kill for yet when inside your hair changes to a darker "I am a powerful person, respect or fear me" brown or black. Your skin would stay the same inside…well, maybe I would get it to lighten a couple of shades."

Vernon's eyes widened at the possibilities upon hearing that. He gave a small smirk and said that he would think about it. He then asked what else Harry had to show them.

Harry showed off his textbooks and schoolwork papers. He showed them the photographs that were taken of Potter's Place and described the rituals that were used to consecrate the building and land. He talked about some of the projects that he made and who they were destined for. He talked about some of the people and about Hermione. Petunia smiled at Harry's description of this girl that apparently captivated his mind and inspired his soul.

 **Tuesday 30 June, 1992 Dursley Residence**

Vernon took a deep breath and stepped outside of his house in preparation to go to work. He looked down at his hands and arms so he could see the changes that color changing potion his nephew had made. He marveled that his skin showed a brilliance that could only be matched by a nice long vacation in the tropics. As he drove to work, he would occasionally shake his head in marveled amusement at the changes that had come over himself and his nephew.

Meanwhile, Harry and his aunt and cousin went to the supermarket to pick up some things for the household and for that night's dinner. Harry had captivated his cousin by describing some of the feasts that were held at the school. Dudley whined at his mother that he wanted to have the same thing. Petunia just gave Harry an annoyed glare briefly before telling her son that she just couldn't do some of the things that Harry described.

"Harry," she asked, "there must be other things you two can discuss that doesn't involve food?"

"Well…Dudley, would you like to hear about some of the creatures that can be found in and around the castle? There are elves that are as tall as my waist, centaurs who resemble a half human, half horse creature. There are tiny creatures known as fairies that reside in trees and bushes. They look like little pinpricks of light."

Dudley was fascinated and began asking Harry to describe and comment on all the supposedly mythical creatures that he had read, heard about, or saw on the television. Petunia was glad that the two were getting along better than they had before Harry went to that school. Strangely enough, now that she thought about it, she and Vernon didn't have the usual animosity and resentment that had been apparent before that Letter had shown up last year.

 **Saturday 25 July, 1992 Harry's Bedroom, Dursley Residence**

Harry was lying in bed reading his latest issue of _Magical Crafts and Art_ , a magazine he had found in Flourish & Blott's that covered all things artsy. He was reading an article that discussed the differences in technique and appearance between traditional wood-fired kilns, dragon-fire kilns and non-magical electrical kilns. Dudley had tried reading it but his eyes crossed and glazed over within thirty seconds upon reading the article. Harry had laughed and shooed him from his room. He could hear his aunt puttering around down in the kitchen, no doubt trying out some of the First Year Potions that she had read in his textbook.

Lying on the table next to him was an Account Statement from the Bank of London. Ever since he had returned home, Harry and his uncle restarted the gold exchange scheme. Going back and forth over the course of nearly two months on random days, the two of them had netted over £68,933,535.93. Vernon's five percent cut of the earned value of the gold netted him £3,446,676.80. The Dursleys had finally reached the reality of what they had always pretended to be before, rich.

The money to Harry, however, was just a means to an end. The amount really didn't mean much to him at this point. To him, it was just an impossibly large number. At nearly twelve, he didn't have a true concept of the amount of potential power he had. He used some of the money to buy a small shed and a nice electric kiln and a generator to experiment with new designs over the summer. He got the generator, as he didn't want to run up his relative's power bills unnecessarily. He also had a brief letter from his lawyers stating that they had discovered that his parents did indeed have a Will written and filed with the Goblins and the Ministry. Mr. Tonks said that he was working on getting it opened and executed but they were running into a few legal snags. He mentioned that there might be a point in time before Harry returned to school that he would have to go in and clear things with the Goblins to get the Will opened. Harry was curious as to what might be contained within but knew that some things just took time to work out.

* * *

Just then, there was a sharp crack of a sound in front of him. Harry leapt out of bed; his magazine went flying as he took in the pitiful sight of the miserable-looking yet hyper creature that stood before him. It appeared to be one of the castle elves but he couldn't remember any of them looking this bad. Had something happened up at the castle?

"H-Hello… Who...who are you?" Harry stammered.

"I is Dobby, sir. Dobby the house elf. Youse is the Great Master Harry Potter!" the elf joyously replied.

"Mm-hmm, about that Dobby. I am not a "Great Master." I'm merely just a boy. Now if you had said "Great Artist" then I'd agree with you." Harry grinned but then sobered, "Why are you here and looking like that? Has something happened to the castle?"

Dobby replied, "Oh, no sir. Dobby does not work for Hogwarts. Dobby has a family…"

Dobby looked saddened at that last bit. His ears drooped a bit and nearly whispered it as though ashamed.

Harry knelt down to Dobby's level and asked him to tell Harry about what Dobby had come to say to him. Dobby's excitement level skyrocketed again and he began to weep that the 'Great Artist Harry Potter' would deign to lower himself to the eye level of a lowly house elf. Harry slowly shook his head in exasperation.

"Dobby? Dobby… Dobby! Why have you come to me? If you already have a family, then what is it that you need from me?"

"Dobby has come to warn Harry Potter that he must not go back to Hogwarts. It will be too dangerous for Harry Potter to go there this year."

Harry got a puzzled look on his face. Dobby's statement made no sense. Aside from Dumbledore's continued interference and general creepiness, there weren't any problems that had come up during last year that could warrant such a request from this little creature.

"Could you explain _why_ I shouldn't go back this year? I mean, aside from Dumbledore being a royal pain in the butt last year, I can't think of a reason not to go back."

Dobby shook his head, his ears flapping noisily, "No, Harry Potter sir. Dobby cannot say why. Master has forbidden Dobby to speak of it with others."

"Dobby, who is your master? Maybe I could speak with him and try to understand the plot against me?"

Dobby shook his head again, "Dobby was also forbidden to tell anyone who Dobby's Master is."

Harry leaned back against the bed and thought for a moment. Brightening, he glanced at the elf and asked if Dobby could describe his master. Dobby gave Harry a sly smile and said,

"Dobby's Master is an older gentleman with pale yellow hair and likes to sneer a lot. Master's son resembles Master and goes to Hogwarts as well."

Harry thought for a moment then laughed a bit in recognition. Dobby's Master sounded a lot like the Malfoys.

"Well Dobby, I can't promise you anything but I will take your warning into consideration. I still have over a month and a half before I need to be on the train. Things can happen between now and then. Is that okay for you?"

Dobby thought about it and reluctantly agreed to wait until September.


	2. Chapter 2

**Monday 17 August, 1992 Gringott's Bank, Diagon Alley, London**

Harry awoke and went through his normal routine in the morning. He wanted to get prepped and ready for his solo journey to Diagon Alley. His aunt had asked how he was going to get there, as she didn't have access to the family car. He replied that he was going to use the Knight Bus and explained how to access it. She nodded and gave her permission. She instructed him to return home no later than 10 pm. She paused for a moment then asked him to pick up some ingredients she needed. She handed him a list as he headed out the door.

Once he reached the Leaky Cauldron, he made his way first over to Madam Malkin's to order some new school robes for the coming year. He then stopped in at the bookstore to see if they had any history books covering specifically house elves. There was something about Dobby's appearance that bothered him. He assumed that elves reflected the status of the family that they were bound to serve. If the family was proud and prosperous, the elves usually stood tall and wore clean clothes. If the family that Dobby served was any indication then there were problems that Dobby's Master wanted to keep hidden. He also picked up that year's required schoolbooks and a few others that interested him. He stopped into Slug and Jigger's Apothecary to pick up his second year potion kit. As he was handed the kit, he had the inspiring idea to get another one for his aunt. Packages in hand, he headed over to Porter's Trunks to see about getting one of those messenger bags that were charmed with extra space and Feather-weight charms. He had seen a number of other students with them and thought it would be a good idea for when he went shopping.

Harry then headed over to Twilfitt's & Tatting's Clothiers to see what new styles and materials were available. He picked up a catalog and order form for later from all the stores he visited. It made sense to him if he wanted to get something for gifts or something. He swung by the Tonks and Williams law offices to check in with Mr. Tonks and to hear about the status of his pending cases. Everything was coming along; the businesses and people that were profiting off him were being sent cease and desist letters. Those who didn't comply were being taken to court. Harry said that the Goblin Mail Cube was working beautifully and he had no problems getting his mail. He did ask what had become of the letters and gifts that were sent to him prior to his reentrance to the magical world. Mr. Tonks didn't know but agreed to look into it. He also mentioned that the Goblins had found their copy of the Potter's Will and would need for him to come into Gringott's as soon as possible to have it opened. Since Harry was there, he asked Mr. Tonks if he was free to head down to the bank to deal with this new issue. Mr. Tonks agreed and the two left for the bank.

Upon entering the bank, Harry and Mr. Tonks waited in line until they reached an available teller.

"Good morning, Teller," Harry remarked, "I trust that your enemies are no more and their gold resides within your own vault?"

The teller and those closest to him stopped what they were doing and stared at Harry. Not once in recent memory had a wizard ever greeted them in the traditional Goblin manner. It was a refreshing and yet puzzling event.

"Good morning to you as well, patron. They have and it does. I hope the same has happened to you. How might I help you today?"

Harry requested an audience with Potter Account Manager Sharpclaw at his earliest convenience to discuss important matters. They were directed to wait as word was sent on. Not five minutes into waiting, a younger Goblin approached and requested that the two wizards follow him. They were taken deeper into the bowels of the bank and shown into a lavishly appointed office where an older Goblin was waiting.

"Greetings, Mr. Potter. Let's begin shall we?" began Sharpclaw.

"Greetings to you as well, Sharpclaw, though I am curious as to why our time is being wasted in such a pretentious room? Are you trying to hide something I should know about?" Growled Harry, surprising Mr. Tonks who was beginning to look worried.

Sharpclaw was momentarily stunned at the brash and snarky attitude given off by this young wizard then began to laugh uproariously.

"Very good eye, Mr. Potter. I am wondering where you learned to spot details such as this? It's not like there's anyone I know of that could have taught you about Goblin/Wizard interactions."

Harry smirked in response, "It's amazing what is possible if one knows where to look and whom to ask. Now, about the Will? I'd like to get this done with as quickly as possible. I have things to do and I'm sure you do as well."

Sharpclaw chuckled to himself as he brought out the Will and had Harry prick his finger with a ceremonial dagger. Smearing a bit of his blood on the seal caused it to glow a bit then break open. Sharpclaw then put on a pair of glasses and began to read:

 _To Whom It May Concern:_

 _As of 20 October, 1981 I, James Charles Potter, do hereby swear this to be my last Will and Testament. If I am deceased and my wife and child live then all accounts and properties are to be split between the two of them. If both my wife and I are deceased then my son is to receive everything. If all three of us are deceased then split the family fortune equally three ways between the three people listed below. Harry, if you're reading this then I'm sorry that I couldn't be there to watch you grow up. Please know that I love you more than anything in this world and I hope that wherever you end up, you're happy and safe. I also wish to note that if we are dead, then it was at the hands of our betrayer Peter Pettigrew. Pete, what happened to you? I should've seen it from the beginning when your Animagus form was that of a Rat!_

 _As for bequeathments, I leave the following materials and monies to:_

 _ **Sirius Black**_ _: Godfather and Guardianship of Harry James Potter as per The Godfather Ritual. Sirius, I hope that you raise Harry to be fun loving but I do hope you find the time to settle down and grow up a bit. I leave you 60,000G per month to cover the costs of raising Harry until he reaches his majority. I also leave you my Invisibility Cloak; it's a family heirloom, keep it close! I also leave you Potter Manor in Wales. Raise Harry here, it has all of our family's history._

 _ **Remus Lupin:**_ _Co-Guardianship of Harry James Potter, Moony, I ask you to make sure Harry learns who his family is and to make sure that Padfoot doesn't go too far off the deep end. I leave you with 50,000G and Lily's flat in Diagon Alley. I've already made it official Moony, there's no denying it. You deserve it. Now go get yourself some decent clothes. I've never told you but those threadbare clothes you always wore drove me nuts!_

 _ **Minerva McGonagall:**_ _Trusted friend, mentor and a person with a high tolerance for the crap we put you through. I leave you the Potter Family Library and our stock in the journal Transfiguration Today. Minnie, check out the books we have in the library on your chosen topic. There are a couple written by someone you might recognize! I also leave to you the family pensieve. Keep it safe, these things are rare!_

 _ **Under NO circumstances is my son to be placed with Lily's sister Petunia Dursley nee Evans!**_ _That woman is like a raw nerve and her husband is a bigoted arse! If anyone above is not available to take Harry in the event of both our deaths, then I'd rather see him placed in an orphanage_ _ **! Furthermore, I also want it known that Albus Dumbledore is to receive NOTHING from our estate or access to Harry outside of normal Headmaster/student relations! **__He is far too manipulative and frankly, creepy. I still don't know how he managed to get us to leave Potter Manor and hide away in this tiny cottage in Godric's Hollow._

 _I declare that the above is Sworn to be True._

 _Signed,_

 _James Charles Potter_

 _Witnessed by: Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts_

 _Sharpclaw, Senior Account Manager for the Potter Family_

 _Delores Umbridge, Ministry Representative_

Harry was stunned. He should never have ended up with Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon! Granted they had become nicer this summer but he still could've been with people who would've loved him. His head was spinning from all the revelations and sat back in his chair. He vaguely heard Mr. Tonks requesting a verified copy of the opened Will. After a few moments to collect himself, Harry asked why the Will was never executed before now.

"Up until now, we at Gringott's had no way of getting a hold of you, Mr. Potter. Your magical guardian had hidden you and placed mail redirection wards to keep you safe."

"Magical Guardian? Who's his guardian? It can't be Sirius Black because the man is in prison." Commented Mr. Tonks.

"According to our records, Mr. Potter's guardian is Albus Dumbledore," replied Sharpclaw.

Harry saw red. He was beyond angry. A slight breeze appeared out of nowhere and fluttered loose parchment on the desk. Things were suddenly becoming clear, the pieces falling into place about his lot in life.

"Sharpclaw," Harry said dangerously through narrowed eyes, "I want you to go through everything. All of my family's accounts, vaults, holdings. Everything. I want you to wage war against the Dumbledore family, in particular Albus Dumbledore. I want _**ALL**_ monies, property and anything else you find bearing the Potter name returned to me. I've had enough of that meddling old man! Then I want you to find out why this Remus Lupin has never visited me or tried to contact me in any way. Finally, contact Director Bones in the DMLE at the Ministry and find out everything you can about Sirius Black. Trial transcripts, what he's in prison for, how long he's been in prison, how much longer until he gets out. If he's innocent, I want him released. Take whatever fees you need for Sirius' defense from whatever monies you collect from the takedown of Albus Dumbledore."

Sharpclaw gave a wicked smile and nodded as he wrote down his instructions.

"Further, find out who and where this Peter Pettigrew is and have him arrested and charged with the betrayal and murder of my parents.

Harry stood up and gave a short bow to the Goblin, "I wish you a good day and a successful battle, Senior Account Manager." Then he and Mr. Tonks left the bank. Mr. Tonks stopped him once they left the lobby of the bank and asked him where the sudden animosity had come from.

"Sir, up until now Dumbledore's insane need to control me didn't make any sense. His obsessive desire to put me into Gryffindor, his repeated attempts to get me to make friends with a certain Weasley son, his constant disappointed grandfatherly expressions and comments. I kept a list of everything that old fool has ever done to me since my reintroduction to the magical world. I'll give you a copy of the list to put in my file. It makes a lot of sense now that I've read my parents' Will. He _knew_ what it contained and has since denied me of my family and history! I could've grown up in a warm and loving household for the past eleven years instead of being ignored and neglected by the Dursleys!

Mr. Tonks nodded somberly, replied that he would keep an eye out for the list and bid him farewell saying he was going to back to his office and prepare for the upcoming legal fight to get the information that Harry requested.

* * *

As the day progressed, Harry saw others in his year and greeted them. Just as he was sitting down to have a bit of lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione and her family walked into the pub. Hermione spotted him first and called out his name.

"Harry! It's so good to see you again. Have you been here long? What have you been up to?" she bubbled out.

Harry smiled at his girlfriend's exuberance and told her about his summer leaving out the revelations he just experienced in Gringott's. He was introduced again to her parents and said that if they wanted to continue with their shopping he would be happy to meet up with them in about an hour at the bookstore. Glancing first at Hermione then back to her parents, he amusingly recommended that they leave the bookstore for last. Hermione just huffed at him in mock annoyance then gave him a quick hug before she and her parents left.

He eventually met up with Hermione and her parents at the bookstore. When he had gone in earlier he had seen the sign announcing that Gilderoy Lockhart would be making an appearance for his latest publication of _Magical Me!_ He had read through the book but wasn't interested in it. He had looked at his book list and found that the entire Defense Against The Dark Arts requirements had all seven of this guy's works. Asking the clerk for a book recommended by the Wizarding Exam Board for a normal student's second year, he decided that he would read and study out of this book instead. It looked to be more informative than the junk that was in Lockhart's books.

He was ambushed out of his musings when Hermione pounced and grappled hugged him unexpectedly. He laughed as he recovered from her.

"Hermione…" he playfully whined, "not in public! I do have a _reputation_ to uphold."

Hermione just sniffed snobbishly at his response then broke down and giggled. Her parents were amazed that this boy could get their otherwise studious and serious daughter to lighten up and act like a normal near teenager. Dan turned to Harry and asked,

"Have you already picked up your books for the year Harry?"

"Yes, sir." Harry replied, "I did have one concern about the required DADA course books though. It seems that there are seven very expensive books all written by the same author, the very author whose coming in today to do a book signing. I reviewed the required books and found very little in the way of useful information. I recommend that you skip the bundle and just get this one."

He held up the book that he had gotten. Hermione made note of it and raced into the stacks to find her new textbooks. Harry and her parents just chuckled at Hermione's enthusiasm. Then Harry heard the sounds of a group of people entering the story, all of them talking at once. His ears picked up the stereo sounds of a pair of twins easily.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here Freddie." _George?_ Said one twin.

"It looks like the Great Harry Potter, " said the other.

"The Master of Art and Beauty himself," echoed the first.

Harry laughed and greeted the Weasley twins. He asked how their summer was going and for them to introduce their family. The twins introduced their parents Molly and Arthur, pointed out _'Perfect Prefect Percy'_ who nodded at him and their little sister Ginny who blushed a bright red. Ron was ignored and Harry couldn't care less.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you," said Harry who then turned to Ginny, "Are you starting your first year in September?"

Ginny wordlessly nodded before ducking behind her mother. Harry glanced over at the twins who grinned.

"She's got a bit of a crush on the legend that is Harry Potter." replied one twin. _Fred?_

"Ginny, " Harry said soothingly, "don't believe everything you read. Most of, if not all that has been written about me is false. As I told my girlfriend last year, I was never interviewed by the authors of those books regarding what happened that night, I was incapable of doing all that powerful magic when the most talented thing I was able to do then was shove my thumb into my mouth and grab my feet at the same time."

Ginny slowly peeked out from behind her mother as Harry explained the circumstances around those stories. He pointed out that the newly labeled fiction stories, the _Harry Potter and the…_ series were utterly false and shouldn't be viewed as true to life. He had no problem with her using him as a role model but she should see what he was like in school before she started down that path.

Harry remarked to the twins just loud enough so their mother could hear but not enough to make it obvious that he was being mean; he was impressed that someone had silenced Ron long enough to make this journey without him scattering his poorly timed thoughts to the winds. Molly leaned over and quietly asked him what he meant by that and Harry explained to her Ron's behaviors and words to Hermione last year. He told her that Hermione fled to the girl's bathroom in tears and that Harry had gone in to calm her down and cheer her up. Molly's eyes narrowed. She was incensed that one of her children would act in such a callous manner and resolved to do something about it.

A few minutes later and Lockhart made his appearance. The blonde ponce looked the perfect picture of self-aggrandizement. His hair perfectly coiffed, his teeth gleaming and his continuous posing for the camera were enough to make Harry feel sick. Lockhart spotted Harry and exclaimed to all that this year was going to be great as Harry Potter and his friends were going to be getting the REAL _Magical Me_ as this year's Defense Professor. He slapped a free stack of his books into Harry's arms and wrapped his own around Harry's shoulders.

In a fit of pique, Harry dropped the books and himself onto the floor curling up into a ball and cried out for his mama to "make the bad man go away." The other patrons went from excited to see their Savior and favorite author in the same store to angrily yelling at Lockhart for scaring the poor boy. The twins pulled Harry away from the scene as they quietly whispered calming words and glancing back at the idiot author.

"So sad, the Great Harry Potter can't even go into a bookstore without making a scene these days." Came a drawling voice.

Harry looked up and saw Draco entering the store ahead of a man who could only be his father. Harry just grinned at him and replied,

"Had to get away from that nightmare. How are you doing Draco?"

Draco dropped the pretentious act, grinned back and shook Harry's hand, "Not too bad Harry. Great acting job. Had me fooled for a moment. Oh! Please allow me to introduce you to my father. This is Lord Lucius Abraxas Malfoy."

Harry reached out and shook Lord Malfoy's hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you sir. Your son should be credited with my performance just a few minutes ago. He has always said that in order to get out from a sticky situation, you must create a scene to pin on someone else. Once the attention is on your target then you can make a quick escape as I've just done."

Lord Malfoy gave a pleased smile to his son, proud that his son was finally listening to his teachings. He looked back at Harry and noticed his apparent lack of adult escort.

"I am curious as to why you would be out in public unescorted today? I would've thought that Dumbledore would have sent you a squad of Aurors to keep his prized 'Golden Boy' safe."

Draco chuckled to himself, knowing full well where this conversation was going to go.

"Well sir," Harry sneered, "Headmaster Dumbledore and I do not get along. I would prefer if he and I were on opposite sides of the world. I seemed to have derailed a number of his plans for me, what they were I have no idea. Were you aware of the Philosopher's Stone incident last year?"

"I had heard various rumors and mutterings but nothing definite." Lord Malfoy commented.

"Dumbledore apparently had this _wonderful_ idea to have me and the Stone in the same place to use as bait to trap Moldysnort. He's tried many times to lure me into his delusions using that damn 'wise grandfather' persona he's used on so many others over the years. I refused to fall for it and didn't dance to his tune." Harry growled, his eyes narrowed from annoyance.

Lucius did a double take at what sounded like the name that would make others cringe at hearing. He glanced over at his son to see Draco smiling and shaking his head in apparent amusement at Mr. Potter's statement.

"Did you just call the Dark Lord ' _Moldysnort'_?"

Harry smirked at the shock on the man's face, "Yup, figured that one late last year. Everyone seemed to be having a problem with me saying the actual name so I came up that so that it sounded similar but without actually saying it. I was annoyed with the whole 'You-Know-Who' and 'He-who-must-not-be-named' baloney."

Draco let out a soft snort at that explanation, "How you managed to not get sorted to Slytherin, I'll never know, Harry. That was impressive. By the way, I saw your bird sculpture in the Ministry Atrium. It's impressive, the colors and light patterns are mesmerizing."

Lucius gazed puzzled by his son's statement. He turned back to Harry and asked him, "Sculpture? That…bird…thing was yours? It was nice, I must admit but why did you make it?"

Harry let out a brief sigh, "Well, sir. I made and donated it to the Ministry as a subtle way to send the message that Hogwarts has students that are crying out for an Arts program. I was attempting to influence the politicians and the voting public that if a single student could produce such a beautiful work of art on his own, imagine what a full class of children could produce if they had access to a fully licensed professor."

Draco knew what Harry was implying and so made the following statement, "Never going to happen Harry. I'm afraid that only a highly placed member of the School Board could get that dream to come true." Draco subtly glanced up at his father.

Harry noticed this and thought about what else he could use to sway a member of the Board. An idea came to him rather suddenly.

"Sir, this year I was planning on hold a slightly modernized version of the Samhain Ritual. Would you be interested in attending?" he carefully asked.

Lucius' gaze snapped over to him, "Samhain? I thought the Headmaster had decreed that all of the Old Magic Rituals were no longer allowed to be held because he felt they were too 'Dark.'"

Harry smirked, "They're only _Dark_ , as he puts it, if blood or animal sacrifices are made. What I'm doing is substituting slips of parchment for the attendees to write down their sacrifices before casting them into the fire."

Lucius' mouth had dropped open slightly at the revelation that an important ceremony could still be held if minor changes were to be implemented. He commented that he would see if his schedule could be rearranged and would attend if possible. Harry also invited his wife to the ceremony as the more people attended the better the publicity.

Again, Draco began quietly chuckling. Harry grinned at his friend. He looked over to where he could see Hermione waiting rather impatiently for him to finish his conversation. It looked like she had found whatever books she wanted and was ready to leave.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, my girlfriend is waiting for me to finish."

Both Malfoys nodded, Draco said that he'd see both of them on the train come September and turned to move deeper into the store. Harry slid up to Hermione in a manner suggesting he was trying to be cool but ended up being over the top dorky.

"Hey there gorgeous," he breathed softly, "you come here often?"

Hermione snorted in amusement, "Haarryy! Stop. Silly boy. Come along now, my parents said that they would wait for us outside near the ice cream store."

Linking her arm with his, Harry put on the air of 'Look at me! I'm so important walking with my lovely girlfriend.' Hermione shook her head and laughed at his pretentious and silly nature. ' _Oh, how I love him'_ she mused.

The two of them met up with her parents outside the ice cream store where Dan offered to get them all a scoop. As they were eating, Harry suggested that they take a short trip to the Ministry so they could see his best sculpture as it stood in the Atrium. Emma looked puzzled for a moment and asked him to explain,

"What sculpture? I didn't know that you were an artist? Hermione, did you ever put that in any of your letters?"

Hermione paused to think about it, "I'm sure I did…I think so. Do you still have the letters?"

Emma nodded that she did. Dan broke in to ask Harry about something that impressed him greatly last year.

"Harry, I wanted to thank you for gifting our daughter with that owl you purchased for her birthday. I think that has to be one of, if not the best gift you could've gotten for her."

Harry blushed at the compliment and shyly responded with a simple, "You're welcome."

* * *

After they had finished their ice cream, the four of them made their way out of Diagon Alley after asking Tom the Leaky Cauldron bartender where the visitor's entrance to the Ministry was located. They walked over and found to their amazement one of London's iconic red telephone boxes standing on an otherwise nondescript street.

"Wizards…honestly." Harry mused out loud.

"Harry?" queried Emma.

"It's basically this 'logic and magic cannot be in the same place' thing that the magical community seems to have in abundance. I had noticed it last year at King's Cross Station when I was trying to find the proper platform. I had pointed out to my aunt and uncle that they could've used an ordinary train in one of the normal platforms with the signage written simply for Hogwarts. Anyone showing up in magical dress would've been viewed as just someone going to a party or a convention or just been ignored as they were rushing to get to their own destination. Additionally, the magicals could've built their own station without having to resort to the nonsense of sticking a platform magically between two normal ones."

Dan agreed with Harry's statement and pointed out that the telephone box hardly seemed like the proper thing to use as a visitor's entrance. It didn't inspire wonder or anything great. It was rather boring and easily missed.

They entered the box and were mildly amused that all four of them could fit within the seemingly small space. Once the door was closed, a voice called out and asked for their identity and destination.

"Harry Potter, Dan Granger, Emma Granger and Hermione Granger here to see the Atrium."

A bell pinged and four badges slid into the coin return slot, "Visitors are reminded to keep these badges on at all times while inside the Ministry. Thank you and have a good day."

The telephone box began to descend into the sidewalk. They continued until a near blinding burst of light penetrated into the box. The elevator reached the bottom and a bell pinged again. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic."

The four exited the elevator box and approached the sculpture. Harry was immediately recognized by his scar and a large crowd formed. Everyone was hoping to shake his hand or get a picture taken with him. An Auror showed up and cleared a space around him and the Grangers. Harry asked the Auror if there was a way to speak to the crowd at once so the Auror quickly showed him how to apply and remove the _Sonorous_ charm. He stood up on the edge of a giant fountain and spoke to the assembled crowd.

" **Thank you everyone for your kind words and wishes. I can only hope that you will accept the apology that I had published last year in the** _ **Daily Prophet**_ **regarding my ten-year absence and silence. There were circumstances beyond my control and I am still trying to get everything sorted. Now, I've shown up here today to show off this sculpture I had made to my girlfriend here, Miss Hermione Granger of Ravenclaw House and her parents Dan and Emma. I hope that you will give us some time to appreciate the beauty of it before I answer any more questions.** "

The crowd backed off and gave Harry and the Grangers their space for nearly an hour before coming back. Harry spoke about the inspiration and design of the sculpture along with the discovery and application of the Light Reactive Color Changing glaze. He mentioned that it was his hope that the ones in charge of the Hogwarts budgeting would see their way clear to providing a licensed and fully qualified Art Professor to teach at the school as it was beginning to get difficult for Harry to interrupt his own studies to help others achieve their own creative outlets. After an impassioned speech as to the necessity of art, music, dance and literature in the every day lives of the students and the population, Harry thanked the crowd for their time, their ears and minds. After a few more moments to gaze proudly upon his sculpture pulsating quietly in a riot of colors, he and the Grangers left the Ministry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tuesday 1 September, 1992**

Harry was having a rather unusual day. It started out fine. He woke up, went through the process of having breakfast, packing and shrinking his trunk so he could carry it in his pocket, sent Hedwig off so she wouldn't have to suffer in the cage whilst on the train. The day degraded from there. The car wouldn't start, then there was a lot of traffic, and then they couldn't find a parking spot. Frustrated, Vernon just dropped Harry off at the curb and wished him a good year then drove away.

Harry raced through the station as fast as he could. He knew he was running late. The train was scheduled to leave at 11am and the station clock said it was 10:50am. He burst through a crowd of people and practically flew down the stairs to get to Platform 9. He tried to push his way through the barrier but just bounced off it as if it were a normal pillar. A couple of passer-bys stopped to help him up and admonished him to slow down next time.

Harry felt the pillar with his hands and muttered to himself sulphurously. He sat down on a nearby bench to wait and see if anyone else magical came along so he could ask for help. He waited for nearly ten minutes before an older woman with graying hair with a monocle perched in one eye wearing what appeared to be a dress some decades out of date and a younger woman with shocking pink hair wearing jeans and a rock band shirt approached the barrier. He recognized them to be Director Amelia Bones and Auror Nymphadora Tonks. They saw him sitting on the bench and approached.

"Hello, Mr. Potter," began the older woman, "you seemed to have had a problem getting onto the platform. You know you missed the train?"

"Hello Director Bones," Harry sighed, "It's just another bad thing that's happened today. My uncle and I had trouble trying to get here this morning and now this. It's almost like something…or some…one…Dobby." He growled.

"Dobby?" Director Bones asked, "Who is that?"

Harry shook his head to clear himself, "I'm sorry ma'am. Dobby is a house elf that seems to be hell bent on keeping me from returning to Hogwarts this year. He has alluded that his master is planning on something terrible to occur. He refused to name his master but has…implied… that his master is Lucius Malfoy."

Auror Tonks was taking notes during all of this, "Malfoy? Yeah, I can see him doing something evil and rotten."

The Director sighed, "Tonks, not now. We don't have time for any of your rants." She then turned back to Harry and said, "Well…let's see about getting you to school. Do you have your trunk somewhere?"

Harry responded that he had his trunk shrunk and in his pocket. He asked how they were going to get him to school. Director Bones informed him that they were going to apparate him to the Hogsmeade Station so he could wait for the train to arrive.

After what felt like a harrowing trip being squeezed through a narrow tube they appeared on the platform near the magical town of Hogsmeade. Harry took a few deep breaths to ease the pain in his chest after that wild ride. While they were waiting, Harry asked both of them what they thought of his sculpture that was prominently placed in the Ministry's Atrium.

"That was yours?" exclaimed Tonks, "It's so beautiful!"

"I was impressed Mr. Potter," replied Director Bones more sedately, "but I'm a little curious as to what the message was. I'm assuming there was one?"

"Yes ma'am. I was sending the message that there's not enough wonder and beauty evident at Hogwarts anymore. I was trying to send the message that the school doesn't offer any art, music or dance classes nor do they hold any of the Old Magic ceremonies and rituals."

Director Bones nodded in sympathy as Harry spoke but looked at him sharply when he commented on the lack of rituals.

"You do know that ritualistic magic is illegal, Mr. Potter?"

"Only if said ritual involves blood or animal sacrifice, yes. The rituals I used were modified slightly to use slips of parchment with our sacrifices written down. I led last year's Beltane ceremony along with Professors Sprout and Babbling. We also led the ceremony for the blessing of Potter's Place, the name of the art studio here at Hogwarts."

Director Bones and Tonks were greatly impressed and said so.

"Director Bones, are you related to Susan Bones?" he asked.

"Yes I am. She's my niece. Why?"

"I'm just surprised that she didn't mention it in any of her letters home. She's a regular visitor to the studio. She likes to sit and read in front of the colored bottle windows. Would you like to see the studio sometime and see what goes on here?" He paused as a memory came back to him, "You know, this is the second time a parent or guardian has asked about the so-called lack of information about the Arts program that I'm attempting to restart. Do you know if the mail wards could erase certain parts of letters home or make the recipients forget they've read them?"

Director Bones thought briefly and replied that she would have someone look into in the next couple of days and that she would be here the next morning to see this studio. She commented that when she was a student, there wasn't any arts programs available either and wondered why. He also asked Auror Tonks if she was related to a Ted Tonks, esquire. She nodded and said that he was her father. Soon they heard a whistle blow off in the distance. The Hogwarts Express was approaching.

 _ **Earlier on the Hogwarts Express…**_

Hermione was in near panic mode. ' _Where's Harry? He's missed the train!'_ With nothing left to do, she bolted to the front of the train where the prefects and Head Boy and Girl were getting ready to hold their meeting.

"Excuse me, " she panted breathlessly, "my friend missed the train…I'm worried about him… what's going to happen now?"

The others in the compartment chuckled at her predicament. ' _Were we like this at her age?'_

The Head Girl smiled at Hermione and informed her that should anyone miss the train, there would be someone from either the school or an Auror or two to help round up the wayward kids and escort them to the Hogsmeade Station to await the train. Hermione felt relieved and thanked them for the information. She turned and headed back to her compartment. When she arrived, she found that she was no longer going to be sitting alone. There was a young blonde girl, obviously a First Year. Hermione sat down on the bench across from the new Firstie and smiled encouragingly.

"Hi, there. Welcome to your first ride upon the legendary Hogwarts Express. Are you nervous about starting school? My name is Hermione Granger, I'm a Second Year in Ravenclaw house."

The blonde turned her large, slightly protuberant silvery eyes to Hermione even though it seemed like to Hermione that the girl wasn't really focused on her.

"Hello Hermione Granger. I'm Luna Lovegood and yes, I am a bit nervous about starting school. I hope there isn't a large Wrackspurt infestation during the Sorting Ceremony, I'd hate to be put in the wrong house because of it."

Hermione looked puzzled by Luna's answer, "Wrackspurts? What are those?"

"They tiny, invisible creatures that fly into your ears and make your brain turn all fuzzy." Luna dreamily replied.

Given how until last year Hermione thought that dragons, fairies and magic couldn't possibly exist, she decided to give Luna the benefit of a doubt. Besides, here was the opportunity to learn something new, something that Hermione would _never_ turn down. She pulled out her notebook and a pencil and began asking Luna questions about Wrackspurts and the other creatures Luna said she and her father went looking for.

 **Wednesday 2 September, 1992 Main Gates, Hogwarts**

Harry met Director Bones and Auror Tonks the next morning and escorted them out to Potter's Place. He grinned at the look of shock and wonderment clearly visible on their faces. He paused as they walked along the outside, murmuring to each other as they noticed little details sculpted or painted into the surface of the exterior walls. He led them inside to the Common Room and let them wander throughout, explaining details to questions as they arose. The two women were shown the pottery studio and kiln, the storage area, the reading room with its colored bottle windows. Amelia commented that she could definitely understand why Susan would come here of all places to read. The tour ended at the Ritual Circle and Harry described the rituals and ceremonies that had taken place last year.

"Mr. Potter, I am quite impressed by what you've accomplished here in such a short amount of time." Mused Director Bones, "Everywhere I look, I see something else that inspires creativity and beauty."

Harry thanked her for the kind words. He asked her if there was a department within the Ministry that could potentially help others find their creative talents or if there were any available teachers to come to the studio and give seminars to the students.

"Not to my knowledge but then again, until I saw all this it never occurred to me that it was needed." She remarked, "Now that I have seen this, I will definitely make it a priority to find out for you. Oh, I wanted to ask you, has Headmaster Dumbledore been anymore trouble since last year?"

Harry shook his head negatively, "Well, I just found out that he was a Witness to my parents' Will. It seems that he's ignored my parents' wishes about where I was to be placed in the event of their deaths. I also found out that he made himself my Magical Guardian but in reality my _true_ guardian is someone by the name of Sirius Black. I've set my Account Manager and lawyer Ted Tonks of Tonks and Williams in Diagon Alley to find out more about him. If you have any questions or concerns, you should seek them out. I imagine that Mr. Tonks will be contacting you eventually. Aside from that, nothing yet but the school year just started, I'm sure there will be something in the works. I just hope it can be stopped before too much of a hassle is created." He paused as an idea from last night's conversation on ritualistic magic came back to him, "Director Bones, Auror Tonks, I would like to invite you to take part in the Samhain ceremony that I will be leading. Kind of give you an idea as to what I'm trying to bring back to Hogwarts."

Both women discussed it quietly and agreed that it would be in their best interest to see what the entire hullabaloo was about. If need be they could shut things down if the ritual got out of control.


	4. Chapter 4

**Saturday 12 September, 1992 Ravenclaw Common Room**

After giving Luna a chance to settle in to her new routine of classes and the general layout of the school, Hermione was intrigued enough by her previous conversation with Luna on the train about the strange yet fascinating creatures she and her father sought that she went in search of the young girl. Armed with a fresh pad of paper and a pencil, she glanced around the common room until she saw the First Year sitting alone at one of the study carrels.

"Good Afternoon, Luna. May I join you?" Hermione asked politely.

Luna froze for a moment before recognizing Hermione's voice. She glanced up and gave a small smile in return and nodded her head. Hermione could sense that there was something wrong and asked her what the problem was.

"Oh, it's nothing Hermione. Just a case of Nargles having a bit of fun." She replied a bit distractedly.

Hermione had learned on the train that Nargles were creatures of mischief that liked to torment their victims by stealing their belongings and causing a bit of a ruckus. Her eyes narrowed in disgust as she realized that there must be someone here, either in the school in general or in Ravenclaw specifically, that was giving Luna a problem.

"Luna," she whispered, "who is it that's giving you a hard time? I want to help."

Luna shook her head, her hair waving in her face, her eyes tearing up and her mouth turned down in a frown, "I don't want to make anymore trouble. I…I just want to be left alone."

Hermione got up and took Luna by the hand and led her back to her dorm room. After urging the young girl to sit on her bed and closing and silencing the drapes, she managed to get Luna to talk about the "Nargles," who they were and why they were treating her so badly. Luna said through her tears that Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe and Mandy Brocklehurst were the leaders of the torment. The others in their house merely went along for the ride. The others never did anything overtly but never reported it. Luna broke down into sobs at this point and flung herself into Hermione's arms. Hermione soothed the crying girl as best she could, holding her and whispering gentle sounds and made the decision to inform Professor Flitwick of the bullying.

Luna wore herself out from the reveal of the bullying and fell asleep in Hermione's bed. Hermione slipped out quietly and made her way down to their head of house's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" squeaked the professor as Hermione entered his office, "Ah! Miss Granger. What can I do for you?"

"Professor, it's my sad and frankly angry duty to inform you that Luna Lovegood is being harassed and bullied by three older girls. Luna said that they are bothering her because of her different views of creatures that supposedly don't exist in the current books. She's also mentioned that the three girls have stolen items from her trunk. Luna has said that the others in this house don't partake in the bullying but they haven't stopped it either."

Flitwick was angered by the revelation that one of his students and a First Year at that was being bullied. He would put a stop to it this very moment! He led Hermione back to the common room and yelled out in a loud and commanding voice for everyone to assemble in front of him. He paced the floor, an angry scowl marring his normally jovial face. The Claws could feel his magic boiling around him and were scared by the display of power.

"Never in all my time here at this school," he growled menacingly, "have I seen such blatant disregard for a person's right for individuality and freedom of thought. Three older students have been discovered to be bullying a First Year simply because the younger child has a different view of the world. On top of that, those three older students have been stealing the personal belongings of the younger one!

He continued to pace and glare at each of his assembled students, "Next, I find out from a lone voice, that not only is there bullying occurring in my house but the prefects are not doing their jobs by reporting this tragedy. Well, that all ends now…"

He called out for Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe and Mandy Brocklehurst to come up front and center. He pulled out his wand and cast a charm over the three of them then demanded that they explain themselves. The leader of the group, Cho Chang, tried to deny it but when she did, she turned a violent green color. The others screamed in fright and when Cho looked down at herself and saw the color she was now sporting, she nearly fainted.

"What you see here everyone is what happens when you tell or attempt to tell a lie. That was the Truth Detection Charm. The color will remain for a full day regardless if you now tell the truth so that others may learn of your folly. Now tell me the truth, _WHY ARE YOU BULLYING LUNA LOVEGOOD?_ " Professor Flitwick roared the last part.

"Because she's a FREAK!" Cho screamed out, "There's no such thing as a Wrackspurt or a Nargle or any of that other crap she talks about! If there were, it would already be in a book and everyone would already know about it!"

Flitwick's eyes narrowed in anger. He had been the victim of bullying growing up as well and could sympathize with young Miss Lovegood.

"The rest of you? What are your feelings regarding Miss Lovegood?"

Mandy and Marietta really didn't care one way or another, they just joined in on the fun of tormenting Luna simply because she existed. They considered tormenting a First Year as part of the experience of going to Hogwarts.

"Fine. Your punishment will be a one month suspension out of school for bullying, a parent teacher conference, you lose any chance of going to Hogsmeade this year and you are banned from joining any clubs or the Quidditch team. Should you decide after all of that to continue your bullying then I will have you expelled and forbidden to return to this school. Plus, you will return all items that you have stolen from Miss Lovegood by the time your parents arrive for the conference. Now leave!"

Flitwick turned back to the shocked students, "Prefects, you are supposed to represent your house. You are supposed to represent your classmates. You are supposed to keep them safe. You have failed. As of right now, every one of you who holds the badge of prefect will lose them because you didn't stop the bullying or report it to me. Hand them over now."

 **Saturday 19 September, 1992 Hogwarts**

Hermione was glaring at Harry. In her opinion, the boy was acting too smug for some reason. He had wished her a happy birthday when they saw each other in the Great Hall for breakfast and then put a large smug grin on his face. He wouldn't tell her why and it was driving her nuts!

"Haarrryy! _Why_ won't you tell me what you're planning?" she griped.

"Peace, my Lady! To do so would ruin the surprise, the event I'm sure that you will love to the end of your days." He replied poetically.

Well, _that_ answer definitely got her attention. So for the rest of the day and until early evening before dinner, Hermione spent her time watching him to see if she could gleam any information based on his actions.

Harry pulled her aside late in the afternoon and said that they would be having dinner in another location. He led her off in the direction of Potter's Place and just before they arrived he put a blindfold over her eyes. She huffed a bit, annoyed at the secrecy but inwardly she was almost bursting with the romanticism of the gesture. Harry opened the door and led her inside.

"Ok, my Lady. You may remove the blindfold." He said with just a bit of cheekiness.

Hermione pulled the offending cover off and let out a large gasp of surprise. The reading room had been transformed into the most romantic and beautiful ballroom. There was a single table and two chairs in one corner by the colored bottle windows, the fire in the mass bench stove whispering quietly, a nice open space in the center for dancing and an elf standing by waiting for their requests. Soft music was playing in the background.

"Oh, Harry…" she breathed, "It's beautiful."

"Happy 13th birthday, Hermione." Harry replied.

 **Friday 16 October, 1992 Charms classroom**

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Professor Flitwick was shocked and stunned by the sudden display by the students that had shouted when he entered his classroom. He was moved greatly by the overwhelming outpouring of cheer and love from his students. He waved and thanked them all for the well-wishers and proceeded to look around for the stack of books that acted as his teaching platform. Unfortunately, he couldn't find it.

Hermione stepped forward, "Professor, we of Potter's Place have put our collective minds together to come up with a useful and practical gift for you. You have noticed that your stack of books teaching platform is no longer present. Even though your official birthday is not until tomorrow, we decided to give this present to you today. Well, the artists from Potter's Place got together with all of us and have made you something far better."

With that, a Hufflepuff Seventh Year stepped forward and placed a small item on the floor. He canceled the shrinking charm on it and it grew until a full sized, table high platform with stairs designed for the teacher stood in its place. The platform had a railing along the edges to ensure no one would fall off and it had a place for books.

Tears threatened to escape from Professor Flitwick's eyes and he gazed lovingly at the most wonderful present anyone could ever give to him. He thanked everyone profusely and climbed up to begin the lecture. He marveled at the solid construction and delicate detail work. Today was truly a happy birthday.


	5. Chapter 5

**Monday 2 November, 1992 Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom**

Harry was in agony. He was bored out of his skull and it showed on his face. He had no idea what was going through Dumbledore's mind when he hired this blonde peacock of a Defense instructor but it was driving everyone with a minimum of intelligence to fits of exasperation and occasionally tears. At this point he was ready to spend an all-day marathon in Binns' History of Magic class! At least there he could work on sketching out some possibilities for his art or take a nap, this class on the other hand was enough to make even Crabbe and Goyle go mental.

The morning rush had started fine. There was an article in the newspaper describing the Samhain Ceremony; apparently someone had invited the press. Harry didn't mind though he would've preferred to have spoken to the reporter to give them some inside information about the reasons _why_ he was restarting them. But hey, any publicity was good publicity in his opinion. The article was well written and had many people commenting on it and giving him their praise for such a wonderful evening.

 ** _Now though…_**

Lockhart was waving his wand like a supercilious twit and boasted on how that was the way he got rid of a vampire that was preying on an unsuspecting village in Colombia, South America. He had tried to bring Harry up to the front of the class to help him demonstrate his "technique" but Harry started rocking back and forth in his chair moaning about the "bad man." Lockhart paled and instead used Seamus Finnegan from Gryffindor. The look on Seamus' face was one of annoyance and disgust. Lockhart then let a swarm of Cornish Pixies out of their cage. In the ensuing chaos, Lockhart disappeared from the class after his wand was stolen. Neville was hoisted up and hung on the chandelier by several rampaging Pixies, ink and books were scattered all over the place and it was left up to Harry and a few others to capture and restrain the Pixies back into their cage.

Once the bell wrung and the resulting stampede left the room in relief, Harry made his way down to his dorm room to pick up his latest issue of _Magical Crafts and Art_ to read while having an afternoon tea with Hermione and Neville. As he was heading up the stairs he caught sight of Ron Weasley stumbling around aimlessly. He wondered what that was all about but frankly, he didn't care enough to investigate deeper.

* * *

After that disgusting and totally aggravating class, he knew he needed something to relax and center himself. He wandered down to Potter's Place in the ferverent hope that he could find inspiration to make a sculpture to illustrate the need for better teachers. He arrived at the front door only to find it slightly ajar. Curious and just a bit annoyed that someone left without making sure that the place was secure, he cautiously entered.

Inside, he heard music being played in the reading room and upon entering his breath was stolen away at the sight of a little blonde first year girl dancing and swaying to the notes in the piece. He watched mesmerized, as she seemed to float around the room, her movements at times seemed at odds with the rhythm of the music. All too soon, the music and the dancer came to a stop.

"Hello, Harry Potter," the girl said dreamily without even turning around, "did you enjoy the show?"

"Um…huh? Uh, yes… I did," he stammered, "How did you get in here? The door was locked last night. How did you even know that this was here?"

She turned and locked his silvery grey eyes onto him and dreamily replied that another student in Ravenclaw had seen her dancing in her room and suggested coming down in the morning. As for how she got in, she said that the Claw in question gave her a copy of the key.

Harry nodded, "Was this Claw a second year girl with bushy brown hair and liquid brown eyes?"

The blonde girl nodded, "Yes. Do you know her?"

"Yup, she's my girlfriend. Her name is Hermione Granger." He admitted, "What's your name?"

"Luna. Luna Lovegood. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said shyly.

"Well," he began, "Welcome to Potter's Place. It's an all-inclusive art studio for those who want to learn, study and share their creative talents. The only major rules I have: You must keep this place and your workspace clean after you are finished, You may not use blood or anything body part related in here, use the Ritual Circle for that, If others are in here reading, keep the noise down to a minimum, Be nice and courteous to others and finally, if something breaks, let me know so I can repair it. Okay?"

Luna nodded her acceptance of the rules and began to turn back and continue her dancing. She looked back at him and tilted her head in curiosity.

"Would you like to join me in this next dance Harry Potter?"

"Hmm? Um, no thank you Luna. Oh, you can just call me Harry."

Harry left and headed over to his pottery studio. He sat down at the bench and pulled out his sketchbook to see what sort of inspiration he could come up with. Thoughts of Luna began to percolate through his mind. He wondered if he could copy her grace and skill as a dancer into either a sculpture or as a painted scene on one of his vases. Shaking his head, he decided that for something like that, it would better be suited for someone to paint a mural or on a canvas to properly catch the emotions generated.

* * *

Draco showed up an hour later in a stormy mood as well. His gaze caught Harry's and growled the name _Lockhart_. Harry nodded understandingly and looked back down to his bowl that he was making. Draco headed off to the storage room where his canvases and paints were stored. He got set up in the reading room and just sat there for a moment staring out the window looking for inspiration. He turned to watch Luna as she continued to float gracefully to the music and subconsciously began to sketch her movements.

Later, a shadow fell over his canvas making Draco look up from his painting, he thought it might be Harry or Luna again, both of whom had glanced at his progression but at the familiar sound of a throat being cleared, Draco froze.

"Painting, Draco? I never would've suspected you had such an inclination or talent." Complimented Lucius.

Draco stood up quickly to allow his father to inspect his work so far. Lucius ran his eye critically over the uncompleted painting and nodded appreciatively. His mother was there as well but she was inspecting the rest of the artwork in the room.

"Draco, dear? Did you do all these other paintings?" Lady Malfoy inquired.

"A couple of them, Mother."

"Extraordinary. These are quite exquisite. Why did you never show any desire to paint when you were at home or last year here at the school?"

Draco shrugged, "The inspiration just didn't occur to me at the time… Mother, Father… I don't really know how to say this… but with your influence on the school board, the Wizengamot combined with all of the artists' talents, we could easily bring some much needed changes to Hogwarts."

Lucius looked up from his inspection of a wooden and stone sculpture, "Such as?"

Draco took a slightly shuddering breath, "I-I mean… instead of trying to force others to bend to the ideals the Dark Lord had campaigned on, we could use artwork, music, dance and the general beauty of what we've created here to change the minds and actions of the population…." He looked down at his feet for a moment before adding, "It's mostly Harry's philosophy that I feel… would be much better than the usual fighting, political intrigue and death that comes from changes made in the past."

Draco's parents looked at each other. They were greatly impressed with their son's fortitude and ideas. They would keep it in mind.

 **Friday 6 November, 1992 Potions classroom**

Harry was running late to class all because of that idiotic ponce Lockhart. The twit had ambushed him and tried to waylay him into some crazy publicity scheme. Harry made a break for it by pretending to wave at Professor McGonagall. The moment the idiot turned he bolted down the hallway. He burst through the door to see Professor Snape scowling at him. Without a second thought, he belted out a declaration throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"I HATE PROFESSOR LOCKHART! Professor Snape, there's has GOT to be a potion that would render me absolutely abhorrent to the twit, some sort of scent that would be geared so that the ponce run away every time he got near me!"

Snape's face twitched briefly, a smile threatening to form on his face. After the impressive display of knowledge and creativity last year, he had made the personal decision not to think of the boy as his now deceased enemy's son but as an individual who showed a lot of promise.

"Well, Mr. Potter, there _are_ potions like what you likely desire but they are complicated to brew and also require ingredients that I don't stock normally."

Harry sighed disgruntled, the class quietly giggling at his reaction.

* * *

Later, Harry was sitting in the Hufflepuff common room wearing the Sorting Hat on his head. The two were in a deep conversation about the message that had been written on the walls concerning the Chamber of Secrets. Harry wanted to know everything about it and went to the best source of information he knew of.

"So what's buzzing in your bonnet, Mr. Potter?" queried Sorting Hat.

"First, do you have a name? I feel bad just addressing you as Hat or Mr. Hat." Answered Harry.

The Sorting Hat smiled at this, "Indeed I do, Mr. Potter. My name is Sebastian. Now, I'm going to assume that you've asked to speak to me about the rumor that has been floating around regarding the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yeah…we learned the alleged history of the Chamber today in Transfiguration from Professor McGonagall but she didn't know much else like where the entrance is rumored to be. Do you know where the entrance is?" wondered Harry, "Also, do you know who the Heir of Slytherin is or at least rumored to be?"

"Well, to answer that first question, yes I do. The main entrance to the Chamber is down in the dungeons. Look for the suit of armor whose helmet resembles that of a snake. You have to use Parseltongue and speak the phrase, " _Let down your guard in the name of Salazar Slytherin_." Admitted Sebastian, "As for the second question, there has been a few throughout history. The most recent was a young man by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Interestingly enough, the other person who has the possibility of claiming the title of Heir is…you, Mr. Potter."

"M-Me?" Harry stammered stunned, "But I'm in Hufflepuff!"

"Oh pish! You think that makes any difference?" exclaimed Sebastian, "There have been at least 4 other members of Slytherin's family that were sorted to other houses. Two, in fact went to Gryffindor! Besides, after nearly a thousand years of intermarrying into other families, pretty much the only ones that _don't_ have the bloodline traits of the Founders are the non-magical born!"

Harry mused on that fact and grunted his acceptance. He then asked why the message was scrawled on the wall by the second floor girl's bathroom if the entrance is down in the dungeons.

"Simple, there's a secondary entrance in the bathroom there. The main entrance in the dungeons was designed for human passage. The one in the second floor bathroom was designed for something larger. There's a sink that has a snake etched into the water tap. Just speak the word ' _open_ ,' in Parseltongue of course. Then say the word ' _stairs'_ to climb down. I should point out that there is a guardian animal in the chamber."

"Oh? What kind of snake?" gulped Harry.

"Very quick thinking Mr. Potter, very good. It's a snake called a Basilisk. Nasty creature. I don't know the specifics of the beast but I'm sure the library has something."

Harry pondered this information. He quickly got out some parchment and a quill to write down everything he had just learned. He knew that there might be _someone_ in the castle who could use this information. In the meantime, another thought popped into his head.

"Sebastian… do you know why Dumbledore is so insistent to control every aspect of my life? What does he have or believe that would give him the power to do so?"

Sebastian sighed internally, "Ordinarily I would not tell you but frankly, his attitude these past few decades has annoyed me one too many times. Sigh…shortly before you were born, Headmaster Dumbledore was interviewing an applicant for the Divination class. Halfway through the interview, she slipped into a trance where she spoke a Prophecy: _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"_

Harry sat there stunned. He couldn't form a single thought and his mouth just kept opening and closing like a fish out of water. After a few moments, his brain finally reengaged.

"Ok, I need to write that down. Maybe Hermione and Neville can help figure it out. Is this thing the reason why my parents were sent into hiding?"

"One of a few, I imagine. I've thought about the meaning of it as well and if you'd be so kind to bring me along when you have your chat with your friends, I can bring in my millennium of critical thinking ability."

Harry snorted and nodded, "No problem. I really appreciate you helping with everything. Why no one has ever asked you these questions before, I don't understand… though I've said it before. Logic and Magic are incapable of existing in the same space. To have one, you must give up the other." Sebastian laughed at that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sunday 29 November, 1992 Potter's Place**

Since Harry and Sebastian's discussion of the Chamber of Secrets there had been two attacks on the student population. The first one had been a young non-magical born second year in Gryffindor, the second was a half-blood boy from Ravenclaw. The teachers were stymied though Lockhart constantly boasted that he was getting close to solving the mystery despite the hard fact that everyone knew he was full of it. The man spent his free time posing and answering his fan mail. Hermione had the brilliant idea to send a letter to Director Bones telling her about the attacks and asking for help in solving the problem. Unfortunately, there was no response. She tried two more times before stopping.

"I don't understand why she didn't write back." Hermione complained as they entered the Owlery, "the owls aren't being kept from leaving, are they?"

Harry shrugged and shook his head, his lips pursed in a pensive form, "I don't think so. Have you tried sending a letter via Archimedes?" Hermione gave him a look of annoyance, "Ok! Ok, it was just a question. How about we use Hedwig? In my opinion, there's none better for getting a letter through to a difficult destination."

Hedwig floated down from her perch, gave a superior hoot and fluffed up her feathers proudly. She stuck out her leg in an offer to take the letter.

"Ok, Hedwig, here's the deal. I know you're capable of feeling the wards that surround the school and around the Dursleys." Hermione gave him a quizzical look. "Don't ask me how I know, I just do. If you feel something that could be or is affecting the letter, I want you to land immediately. We will be following you until you get past the gates. If you don't end up landing, then just continue on until you get to Director Bones. Wait for a reply." Harry instructed while tying the letter to her leg.

Hedwig gave a hoot and a bob of her head then took off out the window. They ran down the stairs and followed her as best they could. They were nearing the gates when Hermione spotted Hedwig sitting on the ground.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Hermione, "Ok, Hedwig. Let's see the letter and find out what sort of changes were made."

Hermione opened the letter but could not find anything different. A puzzled look crept over her face. Harry took a look and also couldn't find any difference. Hedwig however started screeching. Harry raised an eyebrow at her reaction and put her back down on the ground. Hedwig fluttered up a bit and grabbed the letter out of Hermione's hands then scratched at the letter with one claw, marking the section addressed to Director Bones and especially the part regarding the attacks on the two students.

"Harry, the wards must be set up to mask or remove specific phrases! That's what Hedwig detected. Such a clever owl!" crowed Hermione.

"So now, we have the question of how to get the letter to Director Bones without tripping the ward. Hmmm… Hermione, do you have a spare piece of parchment and quill? I have an idea."

She reached into her ever-present bag and pulled out the requested items. Harry took them and tore the sheet in two. He wrote the same key phrases on both, rolled one back up and attached it to Hedwig's leg. The other he kept in his hand.

"Now, if my hunch is correct this ward only affects owl delivered mail. I'm going to walk through the gates until you Hedwig, call out that I'm past the boundaries of the school wards. Then you'll land and we compare notes. Okay?"

Hedwig gave a quick bob of her head and took off. Harry and Hermione walked through the gates and kept going until they heard Hedwig screech and land on Hermione's shoulder. He opened both letters and compared the two with Hedwig's help. They found out that the phrase canceling part of the ward was only applied to owls. Harry snorted in derision at this revelation.

"Wizards…honestly. Ok, Hedwig. I'm going to give you a rewritten letter to Director Bones. Given that it's a Sunday you'll probably have to deliver it to her home address. Unfortunately, I don't know where that is. You might have to check with whatever network you normally use."

 **Monday 30 November, 1992 Hogwarts Great Hall**

At breakfast, Harry was chowing down on a plate of pancakes and bacon while glancing at the morning edition of the _London Times._ Gold prices were on the rise again, which made him happy. He made a mental note to send Uncle Vernon a couple of Galleons for Christmas. He was almost done when there was a commotion out in the hallway.

"I DON'T CARE, DUMBLEDORE! IF YOU'RE SO CERTAIN THAT IT CAN BE CONTAINED THEN WHY HASN'T IT HAPPENED ALREADY? THERE HAVE BEEN TWO ATTACKS ON STUDENTS! HAVE YOU CONTACTED THEIR PARENTS? …WHY THE HELL NOT?" yelled Director Bones.

Harry scrambled out of his seat and poked his head out the door in the direction of the yelling. He grinned as he saw Director Bones and what seemed like the entire Auror Corps storming the school with what looked like some Unspeakables and a few other people. Dumbledore was getting a royal dressing down in front of everyone.

"Amelia, please. Let's continue this in the privacy of my office. There's no need to include everyone here." He pleaded.

"No, Dumbledore. You've screwed things up way too much with your constant secrecy and interfering with Auror procedures. Shacklebolt, arrest Dumbledore. Put him magic-nulling restraints and escort him to the holding cells in the Department of Mysteries."

One of the Unspeakables leaned over and whispered the password into Shacklebolt's ear before the Auror slapped the restraints onto Dumbledore's wrists and escorted him off the grounds. Dumbledore being in shock, left without complaint.

Director Bones strode into the Great Hall and spoke quietly with Professor McGonagall. The professor nodded grimly and spoke to the other professors. Bones in the meantime turned around and announced to the assembled students that the school would be closed down for the foreseeable future. There were some quick cheers from a couple of Gryffindors but mostly it was just concerned mutterings and chatter.

Director Bones approached Harry and requested that he follow her to confer on what was in his letter to her. They entered an empty classroom and sat down at a couple of desks.

"Ok, Harry. Give me a more detailed report on what you've found. I must say that I'm shocked that things have gone as far as they have."

Harry walked her through the conversation that had sparked the inspiration for the letter between himself and the Sorting Hat. He led her through the revelations that the Hat told him, the Prophecy and its contents, the identity of the type of snake and the fact that Parseltongue was the language used to gain access. He pointed out that Neville had figured out that there had to be someone that had to be controlling the snake and the one to write the message on the wall by the bathroom.

Amelia was nodding in shocked acceptance to all the information being handed to her. She asked him if they had any notes that she could work from to which he replied that Hermione had them all. He guessed that she was probably either just outside the door fretting about him or up in her dorm room packing. Amelia got up and opened the door and sure enough there was Hermione practically dancing from foot to foot. Harry grinned and beckoned her in. She practically jumped into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

Amelia snorted at this display. She asked for the notes and shuffled through them after Hermione handed them over. She commented that the two of them ought to consider becoming Auror Investigators when they graduated. Harry shook his head at that.

"When I graduate, I want to spend some time traveling the world then come back and teach Art." He replied, "Heck, if I could I would start teaching immediately after I pass my OWLs. I wonder if that's possible?"

Hermione said that she would add Director Bones' suggestion to her list she had started to research what jobs were available in the magical world.

After the two students were escorted to their respective houses, they packed their trunks in preparation of leaving the school. They joined the queue line to exit the castle stopping every so often as an Unspeakable waved a wand over each student while another scanned their trunks. When Ron Weasley was scanned, there was a shout from both Unspeakables.

"Hold it! I got something here. You too? I'm detecting some really Dark energy here! Stun him!" Ron had unwisely decided to run but was dropped by a well-placed Stunner and collapsed to the ground.

Director Bones and the Senior Unspeakable came running up to the scene. The Senior Unspeakable scanned Ron again and let out a murmured string of obscenities.

"Get this boy secured and transported back to the Ministry. You have his trunk? Good, take that too."

The two Unspeakables took Ron and his trunk and portkeyed away. In the ensuing chaos, no one noticed a fat brown rat scurrying away from the scene and the castle. The Senior Unspeakable assigned two other members of his team to finish the rest of the assembled students and staff. Harry and Hermione wondered what was going on and despite neither one liking Ron, hoped he would be okay. Harry reached the Unspeakable and was scanned. The Unspeakable spotted the famous scar and rescanned it with a more detailed set of charms but turned up nothing. Harry asked what he was looking for and the answer he got back was that the scar could've held traces of Dark Energy but nothing was detected. The students were led down to a large clearing beyond the gates where they were told that they would be transported via Portkey to the Ministry Atrium where they would be able to contact family to come pick them up.

* * *

Despite the apparent huge size of the Atrium, it wasn't really designed to house the entire student population of Hogwarts. The biggest annoyance to most of them was that there wasn't anything to do but wait once the student's contacted their parents or guardians. Most of the purebloods were able to Floo home immediately but the rest had to wait until their families showed up. Interestingly, the artists of Potter's Place stuck around. Auror Tonks was standing next to Harry and asked why.

"Simple," he stated, "Everywhere you look there's a potential to learn how the artwork was created, be it the stone columns to the stars and constellations above. We're never bored."

Tonks snorted amusingly at that answer. It did make sense in a way.

Eventually, the parents or guardians arrived to pick up their stranded children. Harry, unfortunately, couldn't get a hold of his aunt or uncle. He was sitting on a bench when Hermione approached him.

"Harry? Still couldn't get through?"

He shook his head and let out a bit of a sigh, "I'm not worried too much. I have a key to the back door so I'll probably just take the Knight Bus and head home."

"Well, if you want you could always stay with me until you can get a hold of your relatives. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind." She replied.

Harry smiled fondly and agreed. As they were walking over to where Mr. and Mrs. Granger were waiting, his Hufflepuff sense of community kicked into overdrive. He glanced around the Atrium to see the remaining students. An idea to help the students and families bond over this latest stressful event bubbled up to the surface. Hermione saw the look on his face and asked what he was thinking about.

"What would you say if you and I were to organize a school wide Christmas event? Invite all the students, teachers and their families to a large park or somewhere where they could partake in food, music, dancing, the works?"

Hermione nodded thoughtfully at the idea and offered to help with the planning and contacting the others. The two of them brought her parents into the discussion and began making plans.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thursday 24 December, 1992 London Central Park**

The planning and organization of the first ever Hogwarts Christmas Party held in non-magical London was a smashing success. Harry and the Grangers spent a lot of time calling the other students, coordinating with those who could magically contact the ones who didn't have access to a telephone, coordinating with party suppliers for the games, food and venues. Harry used some of his savings from the Galleons to Pounds scheme to pay for everything. He thought of this as just another way to use subtle propaganda to influence others. Draco would've been impressed and again would've wondered how Harry managed to NOT get sorted into Slytherin.

The magically raised families were instructed to keep the wand waving and magic to a minimum. If they had any questions regarding proper behavior to politely ask any other the non-magically raised families. There were a few minor mistakes in the beginning but before long the two sides came together for a day of fun and food. Everyone was enjoying himself or herself immensely. The Weasleys were there despite Ron being squirreled away in the hospital wing of the Department of Mysteries as the Healers tried to cure him of his affliction.

Arthur Weasley found himself a group of non-magical teachers and bombarded them with all sort of questions. The group was amused with his enthusiasm regarding such simple concepts and patiently walked him through topics such as how an airplane stays up in the air and the purpose of a rubber duck.

Molly Weasley wandered over to where the kitchens were setup and managed to get herself into a chatty group of non-magical cooks and chefs. Topics were wide and far ranging on all manner of culinary topics.

The twins were having a field day entertaining the younger children with their pranks and magical skills disguised as the classic non-magical magician illusions. Despite Molly's warnings and dire threats, the twins knew not to go too overboard with the magic.

* * *

There were Aurors present throughout the party to maintain security on both sides of the magical divide but by and large, weren't needed as everything went smoothly. Harry plopped down into a chair next to Director Bones, holding onto a plate of food and a cup of hot chocolate. He glanced around, making sure that he could have a few minutes to himself and that there weren't any problems that would need his attention. Amelia turned to him and complimented him on the party.

"Good idea you had here, Harry," she started, "I'm impressed that you were able to get all this done in such a short amount of time. I have some experience here in the non-magical side and know that coordinating with the other party planners must have been tough this close to Christmas and New Year's."

Harry nodded in reply and took a sip of his hot chocolate, "Yup, it was tough but I think it was worth it, especially in light of the chaos and concern that rose up when Hogwarts was evacuated. I think Hermione has found her life's calling in 'event planning.' It's definitely her art form. Any luck in clearing up the problem and killing the beast?"

"A team went in and managed to kill it after all the students were taken away. The carcass will be rendered down and the sale of some of it will be handled by the Goblins. The suggestion that you should get a claim on the discovery and part of the carcass was approved unanimously. What do you plan on doing with it, if you don't mind me asking?"

He shrugged noncommittally, "Don't know really. I may just store the parts in my vault. I do want to see if some of the bodily fluids could be incorporated into making interesting patterns with my pottery but I'm hesitant to experiment with such costly items. I'll have to coordinate with Professor Snape as he's our Potions Master and frankly the resident genius when it comes to that sort of thing."

Amelia grunted in acceptance of that. She had another question though, "I'm surprised that you and Snape get along so well. I'm sure that you've heard this before but you look very similar to your father and given Snape's history with your father, I would've thought he would've taken every opportunity to deride you in some way."

Harry grunted at that comment and replied that he and the professor did have a conversation last year on that very topic. Harry pointed out that just because he resembled someone didn't mean that he shared the same aspirations or talents as the other. He was his own person and requested to be treated as such. He also pointed out that it was his suspicion that because of the 'curare incident,' Snape's respect for him as his own person and not just a clone of James Potter was the result of the lack of animosity. Whatever the reason, Harry enjoyed Potions class as he kept finding interesting recipes to incorporate into his art.

The two of them lapsed into silence as they watched some of the attendees skated on a magically created ice rink with varying displays of skill. Flitwick was there with a large grin on his face as he swished and swerved around the rink, slowing occasionally to help the younger or less talented with suggestions to improve their skills. There was laughter and shouts of joy throughout the park. Harry's biggest shock and amusement was watching Lady Malfoy coerce her husband to go out onto the ice with her as she skated slowly by him. The excitement in her eyes and the sight of him flailing and falling down occasionally was amusing to say the least.

* * *

Harry caught up with the twins later and asked them if they had made any money using the scheme that he told them about last year. They replied that they had and they were keeping the information away from their parents. They said that if their mother found out about it, there'd be hell to pay as she was incredibly opinionated and also very proud when it came to money issues. Their father, on the other hand, while also too proud to accept charity would probably look the other way but they didn't want to risk it. The twins informed Harry that because of his scheme they were able to open their own vault and start saving for a joke shop they had planned. Harry cautioned them again about using the scam too many times or too quickly lest anyone catch on. The twins nodded and assured Harry that everything was quiet. Harry made some more rounds amongst the party guests and spoke with the others that he remembered attending his seminars on how to get more gold quickly and reminded them as well about the need for caution, especially during the holidays.

 **Tuesday 5 January, 1993 Hogwarts Express**

Harry was relaxing in his compartment idly reading the morning edition of the _London Times_ while listening to the comments of the others as they discussed and relayed what happened over their vacation. Every now and then, one of them would give thanks to Harry and Hermione for their successful pre-Christmas party and for the introductions that were made. Many old prejudices and ideas took a direct hit and came crashing down on that day. Several families made new friends or business contacts. Harry wasn't surprised though; he had hoped that this would happen. On Christmas Day, he had received a large package in the mail from the Goblins. Inside were the Potter Family Pensieve, the Invisibility Cloak his father had mentioned and a number of old books. All of which now were safely stored in his trunk.

The door to their compartment opened up and Draco stuck his head inside. He saw that the compartment was already near to bursting so he just called out to Harry.

"Harry, you got a minute?" Harry nodded and got up.

"What's up, Draco?"

"I just wanted to give you my thanks and congratulations for the Christmas party. I think I'm just going to have to live with the mystery as to how you managed to trick the Sorting Hat into putting you in Hufflepuff instead of my house." Harry grinned at that. "Mother and Father were discussing many of the things they saw and experienced that day. I also wanted to let you know that your idea to have a qualified Art teacher has finally gotten their full attention, Father in particular was impressed by the philosophy of Potter's Place and the interactions they had at the party cemented the idea. I wouldn't be surprised if the school has someone in place when we arrive next year."

Harry let out a small of whoop of excitement and gave a little jig right there in the aisle. This was a BIG step to achieving his goals!

"Any word from the Wizengamot or the school board as to what's going on with Dumbledore's suspension?" he asked.

Draco shook his head, "Nope, though I don't think they'd tell us kids. You should ask your head of house as you seem to have her ear."

Harry snorted at that and gave Draco his farewell before reentering the compartment.

* * *

The students entered the Great Hall for a Returning Feast and found out that it was true that Dumbledore hadn't returned. The golden throne that the Headmaster used was replaced with a simple wooden chair. After everyone had settled down, Professor McGonagall stood up and addressed the Hall.

"If I could have your attention please? First off, I would like to welcome everyone back to hopefully a quiet term this year." There were a few chuckles from the crowd. "As you might have noticed, Headmaster Dumbledore has not returned and for the time being, I shall be instated as Acting Headmistress until such time that the school board and the Ministry agree on the situation. I'm sure we have all at one point or another congratulated Mr. Potter and Miss Granger on their successful party, I would like to lead everyone in another round of applause." The whole school followed and gave a bunch of cheers, whistles and applause much to the blushing embarrassment of the two. "Now, then! Let the Feast begin!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Monday 1 February, 1993 Ritual Circle outside Potter's Place**

The whole school and invited guests gathered around the Ritual Circle to give thanks and offerings for the Imbolc Winter Ceremony. Harry had Hermione and Neville lead this time, as he was busy preparing for the upcoming legal battle to free Sirius from prison and to clear his name. He was also busy with the Department of Mysteries to try and find out the conflicting information and behavior of Albus Dumbledore's continued abuse of power and control regarding him. Harry thought that it was a form of senility and mentioned that to Hermione. She added that it could be also a bit of dementia in that Dumbledore never really accepted that the last war was over and was stuck in a loop. Harry's contact in the DoM mentioned that there were some issues that were discovered when they examined the former Headmaster and the young Weasley boy but they should be discussed in person.

When the ceremony concluded, several members of the press and the entirety of the school board approached Harry. They wanted to see Potter's Place and get an idea of his wishes and desires regarding the direction he wanted to go with the philosophy he espoused. He led them all over to the studio and gave a tour of the place, pointing out the different work areas and some of the projects that were being worked on. He discussed his idea of having an Art Gallery installed in one of the larger unused classrooms to display a rotating collection of the students' works and accomplishments. He did admit that he originally wanted to replace many of the tapestries and suits of armor as they gave off the impression of being old and tired and showed the stodginess of the past but was shot down on that. He didn't mention to the assembled guests that the suits of armor were part of the school's defenses.

Harry walked them through his ideas and problems with teaching and guiding the interested and artistic students while trying to focus on his own studies. He explained that it would make his life a lot easier if there were an actual teacher who could cover many of the same topics that he did but in greater detail that came with experience. Harry expanded on that comment by saying that it would be nice if the professor could cover Art History in both magical and non-magical worlds, the economics of Art and the usage of Art in all aspects of society. When one board member stated that there just wasn't the money to cover the salary of a new teacher, Harry rebutted by saying that Binns' was still being paid despite his death and the money that supposedly went into his account could be transferred to paying the new teacher. The press members were curious about that detail but Harry replied that he didn't have any more information on that and they should check with either Gringott's or the Ministry.

As the school settled down to a more sedate and relatively uneventful beginning of term, several things happened to shatter the new tranquility. First, Ron Weasley returned to the school and, in the minds of several unprepared, Valentine's Day arrived.

 **Sunday 14 February, 1993 Great Hall**

Ron Weasley entered the Great Hall with as much subtlety as the Hogwarts Express arriving at King's Cross Station at the end of school. He strutted in, thinking he was going to bask in his imagined glory of a returning beleaguered victim. What he got however shattered this illusion. A few of his housemates in Gryffindor welcomed him with a light applause but the rest greeted his arrival with much muttering. They were curious as to what transpired over the time he was absent and what the reason for him to be detained in the Department of Mysteries but remembering his attitude and general demeanor from the prior year and a half prevented many from asking him any questions. Only a couple of first years asked him some very basic questions to his health. Ron tried to play up his injuries and delusions but the school pretty much ignored him. Sulking, he plopped down on the bench and pulled over the platters of food to make his breakfast.

Harry was at a loss for what to do for Valentine's Day. He thought he hit all the high points of possibilities when he celebrated Hermione's birthday. This year he thought that he should do something simple. When they got together in the common room at Potter's Place, he admitted that he had drawn a blank as to what to get her and do for the day. She responded that he didn't need to do anything special. She was happy just being with him today. The closeness and time together alone was worth it. They snuggled on the padded warming bench and just talked about non-consequential things and generalities for the future.

 **Tuesday 16 February, 1993 Ministry Courtroom 1**

Sirius Black had woken up early that morning and looked around at his cell. He was still confused as to the events that had taken place in the past week. He had gone from his dank, dirty and tiny cell in Azkaban horribly reliving the events of that terrible evening back in 1981 to this relatively palatial cell in the Ministry holding area. He had been cleaned up, given a health check by a Healer and made to drink some Health Restorative Potions. He was visited by Ted Tonks who informed him that he was being given a trial to determine the events that surrounded his illegal incarceration. Sirius had enquired about Harry but was gently rebuffed. Mr. Tonks told him not to worry, that Harry was doing well and that he looked forward to seeing his godfather.

The door to the holding area was opened and two Aurors approached. It was time for Sirius' trial.

(AN: I'm not going to include a description of Sirius' trial as we've all read plenty of them in other stories. Sirius will be freed and exonerated.)

 **Saturday 20 February, 1993 Three Broomsticks Pub, Hogsmeade**

Harry was waiting in nervous anticipation. He was here to meet his godfather for the first time since that fateful night 11 years ago. His blood pressure felt like it was spiking and he let out a shuddering sigh. Hermione was sitting next to him and attempted to calm him and take his mind of the impending visit by trying to distract him with questions regarding the homework given by Professor McGonagall yesterday morning. He smiled at her attempts but admitted that it wasn't really working. Would his godfather remember him? He shook his head. Stupid question, _of course_ Sirius would remember him! Would Sirius be upset that he wasn't in Gryffindor like his father was? Ugh! The wait was killing him. Finally, at five minutes to eleven, the door to the pub opened and Mr. Tonks walked through with Sirius in tow. The room quieted down briefly as the other patrons got their first glimpse of the exonerated man before the conversations ramped up again.

Ted and Sirius approached the two and sat down across the table. Sirius gazed hungrily at the sight of his godson, noting that he looked anxious but happy and seemingly healthy.

"Hi, H-Harry… um, how are you doing?" stuttered Sirius.

"F-fine, Sirius… um, how are you?" came Harry's own stuttered response.

"Well," started Mr. Tonks in a bit of pained exasperation, "Hermione, why don't you and I go over to the bar and order some drinks while these two get reacquainted?"

After the other two left, Harry studied Sirius' face for a moment, "So… sigh… ok, let's get the conversation going, eh? I'd like you to know that I was sorted into Hufflepuff; I've been spearheading an Arts Revival movement to reintroduce art, music, dance and slightly modernized rituals and ceremonies back into Hogwarts. I'm doing quite well in my studies though I am having difficulty with my DADA professor… um, that's pretty much it on the magical side. On the non-magical side, I grew up with my aunt and uncle in Little Whinging, Surrey. My relationship with them was not great until I got my letter from Hogwarts. Now it's a sort of grudging respect but I can accept that…"

Sirius listened to Harry's description of himself nodding and smiling until the mention of his aunt and uncle.

"Would your aunt and uncle's names be Petunia and Vernon Dursley?" Harry nodded. "You were never supposed to be placed with them! What happened? Why didn't you go to Remus or Minerva? Heck, James told me he was considering placing you with the Longbottoms if the situation warranted it!"

Harry explained what was discovered when the Will was finally opened and read the prior summer. He followed up by describing the suspicions he held and mentioned that Dumbledore was a Witness to the signing of the Will. Sirius nearly jumped out of his seat to rant and rave about the injustice of it all and his plan to deal with the white whiskered fool. Harry yelled him down and explained that Dumbledore would most likely never return to Hogwarts and the general population again after the events of last term.

Sirius calmed down enough to hear the tale of what had transpired since the beginning of the year starting with the reopening of the Chamber of Secrets to the closing of the school in November. Harry informed him that the Chamber was eventually sealed off and the fabled monster was dealt with. He described in detail what the Unspeakable team in the DoM had found after discovering Ron Weasley was held in thrall of a cursed diary of someone named Tom Marvolo Riddle and the memories taken from Dumbledore himself. Harry finished with saying that the DoM Healers had found that Dumbledore was suffering from the effects of the beginnings of a previously undiagnosed bout of senility and dementia brought on by the stress of his advanced age and the last war.

* * *

They sat in silence for a few moments, each digesting the information that was brought up between them. Harry also told Sirius that he gave his permission to the Unspeakables to do whatever it took to find out if there were more items by this Riddle guy and destroy them. When Sirius looked up confused as to why Harry would need to give his permission for something like that, Harry smirked and wrote down the name Tom Marvolo Riddle on a napkin:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

He then started moving the letters around to different positions until he wrote out a new name:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Sirius sat up in shock, the look evident on his face, "How did no one notice this before?" he exclaimed.

Harry shook his head and replied, "I don't know but last term while having a discussion with the Sorting Hat, Hermione and Neville on the topic of the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir of Slytherin, we discovered that the Lord Voldemort name was actually an anagram of Riddle's. The Sorting Hat, whose name is Sebastian by the way, recited the Prophecy that involved the Dark Lord and myself. As a result of that, I charged the DoM Unspeakables to act as my "Hand" to defeat the Dark Lord forever."

"The Prophecy? …Oh, yeah, James mentioned it once, before they went into hiding. I don't remember the full thing though. Eh, doesn't matter." He mused. "So now that has or is being handled by someone else and Dumbledore is out of the picture for the time being, what are your plans for the rest of the year?"

"Well, I want to concentrate on my studies and continue to make wonderful art. I'm spearheading an effort to turn one of the empty classrooms into an Art Gallery for those who use Potter's Place to show off their efforts. I haven't decided what subjects I want to take for third year but I'm leaning towards Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Both are useful for the rituals and ceremonies I lead. Long term, I want to graduate with NEWTs leading towards a Mastery in Art so I can come back and teach."

Sirius was curious about Potter's Place and the idea of bringing back the rituals and ceremonies. He asked Harry to tell him about his ideas.

"It's an all-inclusive art studio for those who want to learn, study and share their creative talents. We have artists from all the houses and we also discuss with the teachers what rituals ought to be brought back, why and how to do them without resorting to animal or blood sacrifice. We have artists who love to work on various projects from artistic dance to woodworking. After we get done here I would love to show you what we have going."

Mr. Tonks and Hermione finally came back with a mug of Butterbeer for each of them. They discussed as a group to go up to the school and show Mr. Tonks and Sirius Potter's Place, the Ritual Circle and the beginnings of the Art Gallery.

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

Albus Dumbledore was in a quandary. For the life of him, he couldn't think of a reason why he had to remain here in this quaint hut. Sure, he had everything he needed to live comfortably but something was missing. He could vaguely remember that there was something he needed to do and a place he needed to be but the memory kept escaping him. He wandered through the rooms of this nice little building he found himself in, gazing at the pictures on the walls and listening to the chirping of the birds outside. A gentle breeze wavered in through an opened window bringing with it the heavenly scent of cherry blossoms. He ended up outside on the small porch and sat down in the rocking chair he had placed earlier and tried to remember…oh, well, it would come to him eventually.

The Unspeakable Mind Healer broke his connection to Dumbledore's mind. He jotted down the memories that were pulled from the man's head. Details of the Greater Good philosophy that Dumbledore had created with his lover Grindlewald back in their teens disturbed the Unspeakable briefly as did the machinations and manipulations the old man had pulled on the wizarding world in general. Also included in the notes were Dumbledore's guesses as to how Voldemort escaped death back in 1981. The memories of the student once known as Tom Marvolo Riddle were interesting and coincided with the mission that young Harry Potter charged the DoM to assist in. He gazed down at the sleeping man, slowly shaking his head secure in knowledge that the once great Albus Dumbledore would never be leaving to wreck havoc on the unsuspecting populace again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sunday 25 April, 1993 Potter's Place**

Harry and Hermione were cuddling up on the warming bench. They were spending an otherwise rainy day curled up in each other's arms.

"Harry? I have a question," she began, "You know that economic plan of yours, the one where you trade the gold Galleons for British Pounds?"

"Mm-hmm." He murmured gently stroking her hand with a thumb.

"What's the real reason behind it other than making a lot of money? Hufflepuffs normally don't act or think like that."

"Hmmph. I've been described as a Hufflepuff with Slytherin tendencies. I'm interested in family, art, making friends yet I will do whatever I can to benefit myself and those close to me. I had the idea the summer before first year that has slowly been developed into, in my opinion, a powerful plan to defeat my enemies whoever they may be. In this case, it would be Voldemort and his minions. In the case of Voldemort, after I heard the Prophecy, I charged the Department of Mysteries to act as my "Hand" to find out how the Dark Bastard defeated death and became a wraith, eliminate what has been determined to be Horcruxes and finally send his evil butt to Hell. With his minions, I will wage economic warfare on them. Picture what would happen if the half-bloods and non-magically born and raised were to realize that all of their supplies could be obtained cheaply and more readily out in the non-magical side? Aside from a few specific items like magically grown potion ingredients or certain animals, everything including the textbooks could be found and sold in "regular" stores. The magical textbooks could be in these regular stores as well, just label the section as something like "Practical Fantasy." The store could be warded to freeze any moving images once it left the premises if bought by a non-magical person.

Hermione slowly nodded in muted shock that such a plan could wreck the magical community without even firing a single spell.

 **Friday 30 April, 1993 Potter's Place Ritual Circle**

It was Beltane again and Harry led the school in another Spring Ritual. In attendance were Sirius, Mister and Mrs. Tonks, Lord and Lady Malfoy, Director Bones, Auror Tonks and several members of the Wizengamot. A reporter was there to cover the event and take a few pictures. Things were shaping up nicely at Hogwarts now. The newly formed Art Gallery was a tremendous morale booster. Students and staff were constantly amazed and inspired by the works of the artists and musicians in the school. Guest artists, musicians and other speakers were invited to give seminars covering their field of expertise. The board had discovered where Binns' salary had disappeared to and rerouted it to a new account to cover the newly hired Magical Crafts and Art professor who would be starting in the fall. Harry had finally talked to Draco about his knowledge of Dobby's actions and attempts to keep him from coming back to school in September. Harry assured Draco that he held no animosity towards the Malfoys just that he was concerned that Dobby's appearance suggested that there were things occurring in the household that should be addressed as soon as possible.

Draco hadn't understood what Harry had meant about Dobby's appearance so one evening; he called the elf to him.

"Dobby!" The elf appeared in front of him, dressed in a dirty and stained tea towel with bandages wrapped around his hands and hunched over.

"Dobby! What happened? Why are you so dirty and wrapped up in bandages?" he exclaimed, deeply shocked by the condition of the house elf.

"Dobby accidentally burned this morning's breakfast, young master. Master ordered Dobby to punish himself." Whimpered Dobby.

Draco broke out in tears as the realization of what Harry had spoken of earlier came crashing in.

"Dob-Dobby… are you unhappy with our family?" Draco whispered, "Are things that bad at home that you feel the need to punish yourself like this?"

Dobby's ears drooped sadly and Draco's heart just broke. Dobby explained as best he could that Dobby's family had much evil in their hearts and minds. Their magic was poisoning Dobby.

"But…but… what about all the cleansing rituals that we've taken part in? Don't they help?" stammered Draco, his eyes tearing up a bit.

"At school, they does but not at home. Home is where Master's magic resides. Home is where the rituals must be used to cleanse Master's magic." Dobby sobbed. "Ever since Master has gotten rid of evil book, things have not been so bad but Dobby still feels the poison of the book in everything Dobby touches."

Draco broke down and sobbed out loud at the realization and the confession of Dobby. He knew he had to do something. He just didn't know what.

* * *

Harry was going through a bunch of job description flyers that were scattered about on the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall the next morning. There were flyers for everything from Training Security Trolls to various departments in the Ministry. He approached Professor Sprout after he discovered that there were no flyers covering teaching positions. He told her that he wanted to eventually come back and teach Art. Sprout raised one eyebrow at him and said that if he wanted to become a teacher then all he had to do was to obtain an apprenticeship to a current Art Master and eventually get certified. She admitted that if he took that route, it would be several years before he could earn his own Mastery in the subject. His other option would be to talk with the school board as they handled the formation of new teaching positions. He thanked her and wandered back to the table to eat his breakfast and to contemplate things.

 **Friday 21 May, 1993 Great Hall**

It was turning out to be a good day, Friday. It was a beautiful spring morning and Harry was sitting next to Hermione having a cup of tea going through the morning paper. Gold prices were nearing £250 and looked to keep climbing. His other investments were raking in the dividends as well. Over the past year he had invested in a diverse group of non-magical technology stocks such as IBM, 3M, British Petroleum and Microsoft. He also invested in smaller companies that offered interesting returns such as a coffee house in the United States of America called Starbucks and the American fast food chain McDonald's.

* * *

All heads looked up as the Weasley twins provided this morning's entertainment. The morning delivery owls brought the assembled crowd copies of the _Daily Prophet_ and as everyone settled down to read; exclamations and shouts of disbelief filled the air. The twins had successfully brewed their own version of Veritiserum and had found their first victim…er, test subject. According to the twins, their version caused the " _test subject"_ to write out the truth instead of speaking it. Just like its original counterpart, the potion was odorless, colorless and tasteless. It had taken them nearly eight months to come up with a working potion much to Professor Snape's surprise. He had discovered what the twins were working on during one his nightly patrols through the castle. Rather than reprimanding them, he offered his assistance in the finalization of the brewing. The twins in turn, offered Snape a spot on the paper they were going to submit to the journal _Practical Potioneering_ and he accepted to be listed as faculty advisor.

The previous morning, they had spiked Lockhart's morning tea with the improved Veritiserum then asked him questions regarding his supposed exploits described in his books. Lockhart wasn't even aware that he was writing down the truth even as he verbally boasted about his travels around the world, the various creatures he supposedly encountered and the people he had interviewed with. Fred and George then sent the exposé off to the _Daily Prophet_ and a copy off to the DMLE.

The doors to the Great Hall burst open to admit two Aurors and Director Bones who strode in, Amelia spoke to Acting Headmistress McGonagall, turned and nodded to the other Aurors who promptly arrested Lockhart for various counts of fraud, illegal use of Memory charms and two counts of illegal relations with students under the age of seventeen. They hauled him out of the castle to the jeers and boos of students and staff. The court case was handled quickly and easily. He received five years in Azkaban for each count of fraud and sexual assault and ordered to pay for the restitutions to the memory charmed victims and all those who bought his books.

 **Friday 25 June, 1993 Hogwarts Express**

It was the end of the year and Harry was on the train heading back to King's Cross Station. Hermione had had the brilliant idea to go down to the kitchens and ask the elves to pack a basket of food for at least eight people for the ride home. They came through in marvelous style. The table in the compartment was loaded down with platters such as roasted chicken, spiced corn and peppers, two different kinds of potatoes, a salad with a light vinaigrette dressing and for dessert, fresh fruit compote. The elves included several bottles of Butterbeer and pumpkin juice. The others complimented Hermione on her insightful culinary gift, as the thought of bouncing off the walls due to the sugar rush just didn't appeal to them as much as it used to.

Harry had just finished rereading the letter he had received from Sirius that morning. In it, the older man had regaled him with the adventures he had partaken with the Healers at Saint Mungo's. The Healers had put him through, in his opinion, a harrowing tale of potions that no sane person should ever take complete with descriptions of the taste and appearance of such, encounters with probes and wands trying to diagnose what else was wrong with him and to Sirius' disgusted opinion, being shot down in his repeated attempts to 'woo the pretty nurses.' Sirius had told him that he probably wouldn't be able to get out and find a decent living space until later that summer and he hoped that Harry could deal with staying with the Dursleys until at least just after his birthday.

Harry made the decision that this year he would make a concerted effort to visit the London Museum of Art, as he never got around to it last year. He thought he'd be able to include Sirius in his plans but would wait until he got home before writing to him outlining his ideas. He had already invited Hermione and Neville to join him and both accepted. He thought back to an earlier incident that made him believe that his philosophy was slowly influencing the minds and hearts of others. Draco had approached him as they were loading up to go down to the Hogsmeade Station and told him the discoveries and revelations he had made regarding Dobby and his family. Harry told Draco that if he needed his help in setting up and leading a cleansing ritual that he'd be more than happy to assist. He recommended that he discuss with his parents the option of contacting the DoM to help with the cleansing Malfoy Manor of any Dark objects before they tried to do any rituals. Draco had profusely thanked him and promised that by the end of summer there would be changes.

After the train pulled into the station, Harry disembarked. He made his way through the barrier and found his uncle sitting on a bench waiting for him. Vernon asked him where his trunk was and he replied that he had shrunk it and was in his pocket. His uncle's eyebrows rose at that and Harry could see that his uncle was imagining the possibilities of such information. Vernon then asked what Harry's plans were for the summer as they walked out of the station towards the car. Harry just gave him a sly grin…

(AN: I'm sure a bunch of you are wondering why Dobby didn't make more attempts to get Harry to return home during the Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Well, in most stories Harry is avid flyer or gets into danger on a regular basis. My version of Harry is more sedate and 'down-to-earth' so to speak and doesn't seek out adventure or anything that could cause bodily harm to himself or others.)


End file.
